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American Express offers cardholders a variety of options when it comes to rewards-earning credit cards. The Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express can help you bank a large balance of SkyMiles without spending a ton of money—either on purchases or credit card fees.

Earn 30,000 Bonus Miles after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within your first 3 months and a $50 Statement Credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months.

Earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta.

Earn one mile for every eligible dollar you spend on purchases.

Check your first bag free on Delta flights - that's a savings of up to $240 per round trip for a family of four.

Earn 30,000 Bonus Miles

The Gold Delta Amex currently offers new cardmembers a high-value welcome bonus:

Earn 30,000 Bonus Miles after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within your first 3 months and a $50 Statement Credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months.

You're only eligible for a welcome bonus once per lifetime for each American Express card. This means you won't be eligible for the welcome offer if you've received a bonus before on the Gold Delta Amex.

Other Gold Delta Amex Card Perks

You can “…check your first bag for free and save up to $50 on a round-trip Delta flight.” This is one of the best perks with this card, providing tangible savings that can reduce the out-of-pocket expense of the card to $0 in as little as two round-trip flights.

You will also receive “Priority Boarding” which allows you early access to the aircraft so you can get settled into your seat before the crowds.

Annual Fee Waived for the First Year

The Gold Delta Amex charges $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 (Rates & Fees). So, you get the SkyMiles welcome bonus without the annual fee for the first year, allowing you to build a substantial number of SkyMiles without investing lots of time or money.

Earning SkyMiles with the Gold Delta Amex

One of the areas where the Gold Delta Amex is playing catch up to the opposition is the ability to earn miles. Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on purchases made directly with Delta. Earn one mile for every eligible dollar spent on purchases. Delta tickets, in-flight purchases, and upgrades all count as Delta spend for earning bonus miles. The card could really do with bonus categories outside of Delta spend to make it competitive.

As a SkyMiles member using your Gold Delta Amex to purchase Delta fares, you'll earn at least 7 miles for every dollar spent. This figure comes from the 5x SkyMiles earned for using your SkyMiles account, as well as the additional two miles for making the purchase using your Gold Delta Amex.

As you move up the status ladder and climb the tiers toward Diamond Medallion status, you can earn up to 13 miles per dollar spent. This is certainly a great way to build up SkyMiles for Delta fans.

SkyMiles Redemption – No Black-Out Dates

SkyMiles also suffers from the lack of a publicly available award chart. It's frustrating to invest money, time, and effort being ‘loyal' to a rewards program, only to have them strip all transparency from award redemption and take away the tools that show whether we're getting good value for our miles. Delta's recent history of unannounced award chart changes has left many members disappointed with the program.

When you redeem SkyMiles on Delta flights there are no black-out dates, however, partner awards are subject to partner airline availability. We run through some of the best Delta sweet spots in our post on high-value SkyMiles redemptions.

Conclusion

The Gold Delta Amex is a good choice for travelers who regularly fly Delta and want a credit card with a low out-of-pocket expense and some flexibility when redeeming award flights. Flying on Delta is the quickest way to earn SkyMiles, and makes it a great card for Delta fans. The free first checked bag is one of the cards highlights and can offset the annual fee in as little as two round-trip flights.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® (See Terms)

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